What law? The law of the Gnu?
All free software licenses grant you additional rights on top of copyright law. These rights allow you to make copies of the software given certain conditions. If you violate them then they do not apply and only copyright law applies so any copies you made are illegal.
First that's not true and even if that would be only true in the US. Since the US is not THE "law" you cant say that.
Also:
>Under the current law, works created on or after January 1, 1978, have a copyright term of life of the author plus seventy years after the author's death.
https://www.copyright.gov/what-is-copyright/
So when Gates dies and i violate Microsofts License 7 years later i can have DOS 6.22 for free and redistribute it right?
You and I will likely be dead.